SLP plans to sell second vacant lot on McKinley

Published November 16, 2013 at 10:53 am

The City of Spring Lake Park plans to sell another of the vacant lots it owns on McKinley Street.

The Spring Lake Park City Council has plans to sell the second of four vacant lots it developed on McKinley Street. Money from the sale will go into a fund to build a community center, parks and recreation building.Photo by Olivia Koester

The city council voted for staff to draft a purchase agreement with Glen and Becky Weaver-Lang at its meeting Nov. 4.

The Weaver-Langs are from Fridley and hope to move to Spring Lake Park and build a two-story home on McKinley Street.

“We are looking to move into a nice quiet neighborhood, and we feel this would be a great place for our family,” the Weaver-Langs wrote in a letter appealing to the council.

The four vacant lots the city developed on McKinley were appraised between $70,000 and $80,000 by the city assessor one year ago.

The council sold the first lot to Richard and Lori DiVito in May for $70,000. So, the suggested price for the Weaver-Langs is $70,776.52, factoring in additional costs to bring electric service to the lot, the council determined at its Oct. 14 workshop meeting.

Council members wondered if with improving real estate markets $70,000 was still an appropriate price point.

“I don’t think we’re giving anyone a sweetheart deal by selling them at this price,” City Administrator Dan Buchholtz said at the meeting.

In an interview after the meeting, Buchholtz said he will confirm the $70,000 value with the city assessor before inquiries are made about lots three and four.

The fact that the Weaver-Langs want to live on the property and make a home in the community appealed to the council.

“One thing that I do like … it’s going to a homeowner and not a speculator,” Mayor Cindy Hansen said at the meeting.

Buchholtz said that he makes it clear to all who inquire about the lots that the council will not sell to speculators hoping to make a buck.

“We can speculate on them,” Buchholtz said. “We already own the land, and it’s not costing us to hold it. We don’t need the money right away.”

The council first acquired the land near Lakeside Lions Park in 1995, purchasing it from the Veterans of Foreign Wars. After cleaning the property and developing lots, the council determined to hold on to the lots for awhile longer at a meeting in December.

Money from the lot sales goes into a fund that will help pay for a community center, parks and recreation building near Sanburnol Park.

No immediate plans exist for the community center, but Buchholtz sees the project taking off in five to 10 years.

“The lot sales will make a nice down payment on the building,” he said.

The Weaver-Langs hope to have their home built by spring so that they can host a graduation party for their daughter when she graduates from Fridley High School.